1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microorganism belonging to the genus Bacillus, which produces a thrombolytic enzyme decomposing waste, a thrombolytic enzyme produced by the microorganism belonging to the genus Bacillus, and a method for treating waste using the thrombolytic enzyme.
2. Description of the Related Art
Seaside plant facilities such as power plants or steel plants require large amounts of cooling water and employ seawater as the cooling water. These facilities are therefore provided with water intakes for seawater.
However, there have arisen problems associated with damage caused by waste that clogs this water intake to restrict or stop the taking of water so that the operation of the facility is hindered.
One example of the waste includes jellyfish. Heretofore, the seaside plant facilities have taken the following countermeasures against the damage caused by the jellyfish: firstly, for the purpose of preventing the jellyfish from entering the water intakes, the jellyfish is forcedly moved using air bubbling, water-stream propellers, ships, etc., while protective nets are disposed at the water intakes; and secondly, the jellyfish is landed using rotary dust collectors, pumps, etc. and disposed of.
In the case of the first countermeasure, jellyfish may enter the water intake through gaps in the protective net. This approach also has a risk of incurring a plague of jellyfish, because the jellyfish is released alive. In addition, the cleaning or wiring procedure of the protective net is necessary due to the undesirable attachment of fouling organisms such as Mytilus galloprovincialis to the protective net. During this procedure, the protective net is unavailable. Furthermore, much effort must be expended on cleaning or drying the protective net. Also, enough space for this procedure must be secured. Hence, the operation and maintenance of the protective net disadvantageously requires a great deal of cost.
In the case of the second countermeasure, landed jellyfish must be disposed of. This disposal disadvantageously requires a great deal of time and effort, cost, and the like. Specifically, the jellyfish may be dried in the sun for dehydration or reduction in its volume and then disposed of. In such a case, the amount of the jellyfish disposed of largely depends on climate. In addition, the jellyfish must be dried in the sun for a period as long as several days, and a huge place is necessary for the sun-drying of large amounts of landed jellyfish at once. Also, this approach disadvantageously has a great impact, such as the generation of foul odor, on surrounding environments. Alternatively, the jellyfish may be incinerated before being disposed of. In such a case, unfortunately, it is very difficult to incinerate the jellyfish itself, because the jellyfish individual is composed of approximately 95% by mass to 98% by mass of water. Alternatively, the jellyfish may be decomposed physicochemically using pressure or chemicals (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) Nos. 2001-300505, 2000-5738, 11-244833, 2003-145196 and 2001-198566). This approach, however, requires a great deal of thermal energy or electric energy for the decomposition treatment and also disadvantageously requires a great deal of cost of, for example, installing, constructing, and maintaining treatment apparatuses. The chemical decomposition treatment of the jellyfish with an acid or an alkali disadvantageously requires neutralization after the decomposition treatment.
Also, a method for biologically decomposing the jellyfish using microorganisms or the like is known. Examples thereof include a method which involves using jellyfish-decomposing enzymes secreted by microorganisms to decompose collagen fibers, which are proteins constituting the body of the jellyfish, so that water is removed from the body of the jellyfish to reduce its volume (see JP-A Nos. 2003-53303, 11-179327, 2001-95564 and 2002-136952).
In this case, however, the decomposition of the jellyfish requires approximately 1 day and thus, cannot achieve a rapid decomposition treatment. In addition, this decomposition treatment unfavorably results in incomplete decomposition.
A plaque of jellyfish, for example, floating in seawater, often occurs mainly in warmer months and also causes various damages on locations other than the seaside plant facilities. For example, Nemopilema nomurai Kishinouye, which emerges in massive amounts in waters close to Japan, moves with the sea current to the coasts of various regions. This jellyfish has thus inflicted enormous damage on the coastal fishing industry such as set net fishery in recent years.
For example, jellyfish having a toxin, such as Nemopilema nomurai Kishinouye or Carybdea rastoni Haacke (also called Portuguese man-of-war), may be caught in a fishing net simultaneously with fish harvesting. The toxin of the caught jellyfish causes bleaching of fish, resulting in undesirable reduction in the commercial value of the fish.
The toxin of this jellyfish is very strong, and there have been reports of death caused by anaphylactic shock. In this regard, a further problem of the method for biologically decomposing the jellyfish is a risk of rendering the toxin accessible during the disposal of treated liquids.
Nevertheless, a method for securing the safety of such a waste liquid has not yet been known.
Thus, effective countermeasures remain to be taken against the damage caused by the jellyfish on the seaside plant facilities. Under the circumstances, there is a demand for developing related technology that can decompose the jellyfish rapidly and easily with the minimum consumption of physicochemical energy such as pressure, chemicals, or high temperature, and permits safe disposal of treated products after the decomposition.